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ecruits . from the Hitler Youth Organisation who have not yet
entered the German 'Labour ServiCe.
Wachverlijinde . (Guard Formations)
Sonder-Verblinde (S-Verb. - Special Purpose Units). These
are reported to . furnish execution squads, often operating in
areas distant from their home stations.
21. TV Strength and Auxiliaries
Prior to 1939 the TV were said. to number 25,000 officers and
men. The highest (unconfirmed) estimate in 1939 was 24.0,000.
' Successive levies of men for the field formations of the
Waffen SS have left the original Totenkopfverblinde oonsiderably
reduced both in numbers and in quality. As a result, there was
an influx into the TV of foreign volunteers, who, though they are
in no /My below standard. in brutality tovrards prisoners, do not
• have the • same political loyalty to the Nazi. regime. A large
number of these foreigners in the concentration camp guards are
Volksdeutsche ("racial" Germans) from the Balkans. But because
of the needs of the fighting front, these men are Often elderly,
physically defective or otherrrlse unfit for active service.-
SA Auxiliary guards, Werksohutz (Factory Police) and. even
Tartars and released Ukrainian IN's have recently been reported
as concentration camp personnel, indicating the growing manpower
shortage among the ranks of the V.
It is also worth mentioning that TV personnel are not
infrequently transferred from one camp to another.
S-VerbAnde are frequently referred to . by the Roman numeral
of the Sturmbann which controls them (e.g., S-Verband I under
S tuba. I).--
-An S-Verband appears to be organised often into Sonder-
'kcoman.dos der Totenk fverbOnde (S-Kdo. d.. TV, or Special
Detachments) . S-Kdo - LAUSITZ and S-Kdo SACHSDr have been
identified.
T-Einsatz,staffeln z.b.V. (Death' s Head. Detachments for
special assignments) have also been reported, and may be yet
smaller nits.
In addition there seem to exist E-Starme (Ersatz Stiirme, or
Reserve Companies) quartered in some of Germany' s larger cities.
They ben- the name of the town or city district in which their
barracks are located e. g. turn HAM.
SS TV-VerstOrkungen (Reinforcement Units) have also been
reported.
Among the service branches of the Death' s Head Formations
are the TV-Motordienst (Motorised. Service) the TV-Nachrichtendienst
(Signals Servioe) , the TV-Sanittitswesen (Medical Service)
and. the TV-Ausbilduna (Training Cadre).
22. TV War Service
The original function of the Totenlnde was to guard
concentration camps. But it was clear from the outset that
H1MKGER also envisaged this picked force as one of his most
effective instruments for repression within Germany in the event
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